Sarah Palin's excellent adventure on speed.

The lawyer who vetted Sarah Palin spoke out at the National Press Club today. I think most of what he said is bullshit. But a couple of revelations are interesting. First, apparently campaign spokespeople seemed caught off-guard when asked about Bristol's pregnancy because they really were caught off-guard.

But far more intriguing (and scary) are the three questions that the McCain campaign thought ultimately determine a person's capacity to serve as Vice President:

* Why do you want to be vice president?
* Are you prepared to use Nuclear [sic] weapons in the defense of the homeland?
* Osama bin Laden is identified in the FATA, the CIA is ready to take a shot, but if they take a shot there will be multiple civilian causalities, will you take the shot?

Homeland? For real?

And, I don't know about anyone else, but when I read that third question I hear it in Dennis Hopper's voice (who of course adds a "hotshot" at the end). And I keep expecting Keanu Reeves to say "Shoot the hostage."

Excellent.

Today's Awesome Quote of the Day (and no, these aren't the only things I'm posting from now on)

Jason Linkins at Huff Post:

During an appearance on Your World with Neil Cavuto yesterday, [RNC Chair] Michael Steele told the host that he was "open to" punishing Senators Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe, and Arlen Specter for their votes on the stimulus package, by withholding RNC monies for their re-election bids. He then said he was "open to everything, baby," because that's his bold schtick: inserting the word "baby" into everything.

Awesome Quote of the Day

Democratic Governor Brian Schweitzer of Montana (on Gov. Sarah Palin dropping out of an energy policy talk she was supposed to co-lead):

"I don't know where she's going to be. You'll be stuck with me. There will be no glamour, certainly no snappy dressing. I brought my best two pairs of jeans. There's a little bit of a horse shit stain by the knee. But I've been washing that stuff out."

Stuff you should think about for a few minutes. But not a whole lot longer than that.

I saw a version of this a couple years ago, I think. But it's still cool. And updated.



(Hat tip: Michael Scherer at Swampland)

Closing Guantanamo.

This article by Dahlia Lithwick at Slate does important work in cutting through the bullshit enveloping the Guantanamo debate, and re-focusing the public on the facts.

Her main point:

"[W]hether we are looking to answer questions about where to repatriate the last Guantanamo detainees, where to hold them until we try them, or how to try them, let's attempt to get past the undifferentiated orange jumpsuits, which tell us what they have always told us: virtually nothing at all."

The money quote for me, though, is:

We also know that among the remaining prisoners at Guantanamo there are several who clearly come under the definition of child soldiers, including Canadian Omar Khadr, who allegedly threw a grenade at an American soldier and was first taken to Guantanamo when he was 15. Khadr, we learned this week, allegedly identified, under abusive interrogation, another Canadian, Maher Arar, as a visitor to an al-Qaida safe house in Afghanistan. The problem here is that there is no dispute that Arar was in Canada at the time. Mohammed Jawad is another prisoner at Gitmo, and like Khadr he was also a child soldier (between 15 and 17; his birth date is unknown) when he threw a grenade and injured U.S. soldiers. As Glenn Greenwald chronicles here, Jawad allegedly suffered such brutal abuse and torture, his chief prosecutor resigned and is now a witness for Jawad in his habeas corpus proceeding. As Greenwald writes, the centerpiece of the government case against Jawad is a confession he " 'signed' (with his fingerprint, since he can't write his name) … and yet, it was written in a language Jawad did not speak or read and was given to him after several days of beatings, druggings, and threats—all while he was likely 15 or 16 years old."

Amen.

I'll admit it: Alone in my room, watching on tv, I found myself mouthing the word when he called for it.

The Reverend Lowery may not have stolen the show (don't think that was possible), but he sure brought it home. I'm not with his lord, but I'm sure with his message. Let's have at it, people. Yes we can.



(See here for a transcript. But please ignore the comments at the bottom of the page.)

On this new morning, new morning...

I can't wait to go to sleep...so I can wake up tomorrow morning.

It feels like Christmas Eve.

If I were 5.

And.

You know.

Cared about Christmas a lot.




And for your musical enjoyment, some under-rated Dylan: